GRAYS ATHLETIC CEO Joel Nathan has moved to quash any rumours of a crisis after chairman Keith Burns announced his resignation.
Burns will be stepping down at the end of the season after six years in the role and ten years at the club and the search has now started for a replacement.
Despite claims from some quarters that the Ryman Premier club would be seeing an exodus of staff, Nathan says things couldn’t be further from the truth.
“I would like to place on record my sincere thanks and gratitude to our departing chairman of ten years Keith Burns,” Nathan said in a statement.
“Contrary to the exodus headline in the press recently, Keith has made the decision to step down from the role due to an increase in other commitments and didn’t feel that he could give his full commitment in the role.
“There is a lot of work going on behind the scenes at the moment and an announcement will be made soon to quash any further rumours that you may hear.”
Things have been tough on the pitch recently with Grays picking up just two wins in 12 Ryman Premier games. They’ve also lost their last three matches without scoring to drop down to tenth in the league.
Boss Mark Bentley turned to youth for Saturday’s 2-0 home defeat to Leiston and Grays also announced that defender Luke Ifil had signed for Hayes & Yeading on dual registration and striker Bradley Fortnam-Tomlinson had left by mutual consent.
Despite going through a trying period, Nathan says the recent player movement is simply a case of the club preparing for the future.
He added: “There is no crisis at the club or exodus as some may have you believe. We had three players out injured for Saturday’s match against Leiston and it was the perfect opportunity to blood some new young players.
“I personally do not see giving young players an opportunity to play a full 90 minutes as a sign of an exodus or a crisis, it is quite normal at this stage in the season for many Non-League clubs to look at their playing squad and shed a few players they feel may not be required for the next season. It’s not uncommon and is not unique to Grays Athletic.”
